US tyre manufacturer Goodyear has agreed a jersey sponsorship deal with NBA basketball franchise the Cleveland Cavaliers.
The multi-year deal will begin with the 2017-18 season and will grant Goodyear’s Wingfoot brand exposure on the front of the team’s jerseys.
The Cavaliers’ wine jerseys will feature a gold and navy Goodyear Wingfoot logo, while the team’s white uniform will feature a gold and wine logo. Goodyear was founded and is headquartered in Akron, Ohio.
Under the agreement, Goodyear will work with US media company Turner Sports, the Cavaliers’ long-term media partner, to produce custom-branded content and advertising.
As part of the deal, the Cavaliers and Goodyear will also provide $1m (€906,000) of support to science, technology, engineering and mathematics programs in the Cleveland Metropolitan School District and Akron public schools.
The Cavaliers’ general manager, David Griffin, said: “This partnership had to be something that our entire franchise, and specifically our team, believed in and can now be inspired by. Having the Wingfoot become part of the actual fabric of our identity does that.
“The connection represents something deeper than basketball and is forged on a common platform to operate physically and culturally at the highest level. We can’t imagine a more appropriate partner than Goodyear, and the team will have a unique depth of pride wearing the Wingfoot on the court as we compete.”
The team becomes the sixth NBA franchise to sign a jersey sponsor for next season, joining the Brooklyn Nets, Boston Celtics, Philadelphia 76ers, Sacramento Kings and Utah Jazz.
The NBA announced in April 2016 that teams would be permitted to agree jersey sponsorship deals as part of a three-year pilot programme spanning the 2017-18 to 2019-20 campaigns.